Dear Riyazers On new year’s eve, we announced that we were working on a new version of Riyaz to take your learning experience further ahead. After months of hard work, we’re now just days away from rolling out this major update of Riyaz to you. We’re very excited and we want to share a sneak peek of what’s coming! 🙂 In previous versions of Riyaz, courses did not come with guidelines/plan on how to practice the lessons and complete a…

In the update that is rolling out starting today, you’ll see that Riyaz has been simplified quite a lot. Riyaz had four tabs in the earlier versions like below. This layout has proven to be a distraction for new users as there is too much going on in this screen to comprehend. After consulting with a few users and UI/UX design experts, we have decided to change it to this new design shown below. Here are the changes. We’ve removed…

Starting with the recent release (4.2.0), we’ve taken a few steps to make it more convenient for you to access your accounts, while making it more secure. Issues with current login system Some of you have written to us communicating the difficulties in accessing your Riyaz account. Usually, these difficulties are in either remembering which social account you used to sign up, or having to reset the forgotten password, or even ending up with two or more accounts and your…

Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty is a contemporary Hindustani classical music vocalist. He is widely known across the country, and have performed across the globe in the revered venues like Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and so on. Here is a video where he speaks about his life, journey and views on music and learning. According to him, listening (shruti) is so very important for learning. In fact, the school of music which he founded in Kolkata, is named Shrutinandan for this…

Khansaheb’s name is inseparable from Shehnai instrument and Hindustani classical music. His efforts have resulted in deeply etching the instrument’s relevance to the classical music tradition. The city of Varanasi is blessed to have revelled in his mesmerising performances on the banks of river Ganges for decades. The country showed its gratitude to the legend conferring Bharat Ratna on him in 2001. The first video shows him in a lighter mood speaking impromptu to a group of people gathered. The…

Almost every south Indian home wakes up to her voice. Her selflessness in service to music is widely and highly regarded, and has helped further the cause of Carnatic music in several ways. The country is humbled when it conferred Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India, upon her in 1998. We remember her with love and fondness today as we surface a series that reflects on her life and journey. That’s none other than Srimati M. S. Subbulakshmi,…

This post is the fourth in the series of #ListenToSing for Riyazers to listen and learn from good singing and knowledge of the legendary musicians from Indian classical music traditions. Padma Vibhushan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is a name that is synonymous with Sarod, a divine-sounding plucked string-instrument from Hindustani classical music. Here is a video that shines light on his life, journey and the parampara. Do watch and comment on what you’ve learned and how you’ve felt 🙂 Hope you are…

This post is the third in the series of #ListenToSing for Riyazers to listen and learn from good singing and knowledge of the legendary musicians from Indian classical music traditions. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is a name that needs no introduction! He is a phenomenon that took the Hindustani world by storm. His contributions to the tradition will be cherished and remembered forever by the rasikas. The “Bharat Ratna”, the highest civilian award of India, shined further when Government of India accorded it…

This post is the second in the series of #ListenToSing for Riyazers to immerse themselves in good singing and knowledge of the front-runners in Indian classical music traditions. Dr. M. Balamurali Krishna is a legendary artist from Carnatic music tradition, and is a name that is equally well known in Hindustani circles as well. Watch him talk on different aspects that singers need to beware of, not just when they are starting out, but later when they perform as well. Here you…

Here is the first in the series of #ListenToSing for Riyazers pursuing Hindustani classical music tradition. This is a rare gem of a video where you see the unparalleled maestro of Bansuri, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, speak about his life and journey. It is humbling to see the legend talk in such simple terms. Do watch till the end! 🙂 Tell us what is your learning from this video in the comments below. Other Riyazers could benefit from your observations. Hope…